23.12.12

THE PRICE OF AMBITION.

I have tried to make the case numerous time,, here and elsewhere, that people who perform at the extremes in any area of endeavor have commensurate extreme needs. No one makes the Olympic finals, the Super Bowl, World Series, Carnegie Hall, the U.S. Congress, or the Louvre that does not suffer from some form of clinical neurosis and/or psychosis. The only difference is the form taken, and how it is manifested. There are no boy scouts or girl scouts on the podium and pedestal of extreme excellence. Some people are able to hide and disguise their extreme need(s), or express them in a manner we find attractive or acceptable,…. but none-the-less, the basic need is still there.

He concludes by noting that the way in which people handle screw-ups matters. "Compare [Ms Hamilton's candor] to the exculpatory excuses we hear all too often when the Lone Ranger falls off his white horse."